Bible Exegesis: Exodus 20

Bible Exegesis: Exodus 20

Prior to beginning this assignment, I had already found a passionate interest in theology, primarily the logical historical analysis of the Old Testament. I had read several books on the topic, but still had a thirst for more knowledge. With that said, my preceding assumptions predominantly consisted of skepticism towards the religious interpretation of the Old Testament. I believed that Exodus 20 was a prime example of the religious establishment interpreting an ancient text as to be divine. I felt that the Ten Commandments were nothing more then a moral code of antiquity, established as an ethical compass by spiritual leaders in a religious society.

Exodus 20 is a hot button topic in today’s polarized political climate. Conservatives want the Ten Commandments displayed in all schools and Liberals argue that it’s a violation of the separation of church and state. With this debate not likely to reach a compromise in the near future, I feel that the scholarly education of this chapter and the Old Testament in general, is needed to advance this quarrel beyond petty mud-slinging.

Contrary to sectarian belief, the much theorized author of Exodus is not believed to have been Moses. Instead, the consensus is that the text is a mixed bag of penned interpretations, consisting of the Yahwist (J writer), Priestly (P writer), and Elohist (E writer), with the E writer considered the primary architect of the book. Although we can hypothesize based upon the literal thumbprints written into the text, it is impossible to determine the definitive author of Exodus 20. Even the date of origin causes significant debate amongst experts. While it’s known that the final text of Exodus was edited sometime in the fifth century BCE. Many critics argue that the covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai, which was said to have occurred around 1200 BCE, didn’t become important in Israel until the seventh century BCE (Armstrong, A history of God…22-23). Which would both call in too question the validity of Moses’ encounter, and eliminate the JE writers from consideration as possible authors of the text. Regardless of its textual genealogy or factual accuracy, the Ten Commandments continue to have an impact on society some 3000 years later.

Before I delve into the text itself, I feel that it is best served to provide a brief description of the social and religious climate during the period the Pentateuch was being formed. During this three hundred year period, a battle of religious supremacy raged between the progressive Israelites, who worshiped the god YHWH, and the traditional pagans, who worshipped various territorial gods including the high god EL. While both the Israelites and gentiles recognized the existence of multiple gods, the Israelites formed a covenant with Yahweh at the urging of Moses during their escape from oppression in Egypt. He claimed that the god YHWH had spoken to him as a burning bush, while Moses was in exile for his role in the death of a guard of the Pharaoh. He explained to his people that Yahweh had promised to set them free if they agree to a covenant proclaiming YHWH as their only god of worship. However, scholars continue to debate the knowledge that Moses and his people had of the Elohim YHWH. In the scrolls of the Yahwist, he traces the worship of YHWH as originating from the grandson of Adam. The Priestly writer, however, refutes this claim in the sixth century BCE by suggesting that the Israelites had never heard of YHWH before the divine conversation. In the P writings, he makes Yahweh explain to Moses that he really was the same god as the God of Abraham. Signifying that this is a controversial notion, Yahweh tells Moses that Abraham had called him “El Shaddai” (El of the Mountain), and did not know the name Yahweh (Armstrong 14). Despite the discrepancies in semantics, Yahweh was the only worshipped god of the Israelites following the Exodus and would proclaim so in an awe-inspiring volcanic eruption appearance to Moses on Mount Sinai (Armstrong 15). With such a dramatic entrance, YHWH proclaimed his unrivaled significance and began his lecture to Moses and his witnesses.

Exodus 20 begins by stating that this is the word of god, or Elohim. Verse two continues this assertion by proclaiming, I am “YHWH thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Darby Translation Bible Exod 20:2). This statement immediately grabs the reader’s attention and imposes his authority as the savior of the Israelites who formed a covenant with his “chosen people” that they shall obey only him. YHWH demands this authority in Exodus 20:3 when he says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” However, The Jerusalem Bible provides a more telling interpretation of Exodus 20:3, “There shall be no strange god for you before my face.” This suggests that the acknowledgement of other gods is accepted, as long as YHWH is the only god worshiped. As Karen Alexander Explains, “To ignore a potential source of (divine intervention) seemed frankly foolhardy, and the subsequent history of the Israelites shows that they were very reluctant to neglect the cult of the other gods” (23).

During antiquity, it was widely assumed that gods only controlled specified territories or earthly tasks. So, as people would travel outside the territory of one god, they would begin worship of another. This fundamental belief originates from the ancient Babylonian myth of the Enuma Elish. In this story of creation, gods emerge from primordial ooze two by two, until they are purified into individual gods of the heavens (Anu), the earth (Ea), the sky (Ansher), the sea (Kishar), and the sun (Marduk). Marduk, the most refined god, defeats Tiamat and her offspring to forge a link between the human world and the divine world. This legend explains the hesitation of the Israelites and Canaanites to cast away the other gods, who had blessed many aspects of their life including fertility, for a single deity (YHWH), who had only established himself as a god of war.

In Exodus 20:4-6, the breadth of division within society is once again highlighted by the condemnation, by God, of the building of tributes to gods of the Canaanite culture (Baal-Habad), or those of the Enuma Elish. The writers (most likely the Priestly writer) go as so far as to describe punishment to those who disobey this mono-worshipful law, as well as their decedents. But, to those who do not “bow down” to other gods, God promises to protect the Israelites as the “special people.”

The 7th